Iraqis still suffering, says Detroit auxiliary after visiting Iraq

Published: 2004-01-28

DETROIT (CNS) -- Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit said Jan. 24 he was "shocked and discouraged" by what he saw on his most recent visit to Baghdad. "I was overwhelmed with sadness over what is happening to the people of Iraq, and also to the U.S. troops there," said the bishop, who returned to Detroit from an 11-day trip Jan. 22. With unemployment approaching 60 percent and food supplies dwindling, ordinary Iraqis "are humiliated and feel degraded" as they try to cope without electricity, telephones and -- in some places -- running water, he said. "Without exception, people said things were worse now than before the war," said Bishop Gumbleton, who was an outspoken critic of U.S. military action both before and during the war. It was his seventh trip to Baghdad, his first since the war. He said U.S. officials live and work in the Coalition Provisional Authority's compound, nicknamed the "Dream Zone," and some of their statements about improved conditions make it appear they never get out to see the reality ordinary people experience.

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